In Tai Chi Chuan the jian represents the dragon. It is graceful and flowing, subtle and clever, high and low, fast and slow. It sweeps and soars, climbs and dives, withdraws and pounces.

The sword and body move as one. They sweep and flow with a grace and beauty that is unmatched even in the hand-form. The sword techniques are subtle and clever and require an understanding of the weapon to a great degree. There is a saying that goes along the lines of 100 day for spear, 1000 days for sabre, 10,000 days for sword, while that’s not meant to be taken literally it does given an idea of the amount of effort necessary to develop a working relationship with the blade.

The sword is possibly the most enjoyable weapon contained within the Wudang syllabus but it does take a lot of effort to learn and a lot of work to understand.